Title town

In part, the school itself lays the foundation. Stowe High is a K-12 system; kids go to school together all the way through their formative years. They get to know one another very well.

Then, Stowe is a can-do place. People compete at almost every age — in road races, downhill skiing, Nordic skiing, road and mountain biking, swimming, and on and on. And that’s just in organized sports; people test themselves against the elements, against the challenges in Smugglers’ Notch and on Mount Mansfield, in rock climbing and zip-lining and almost anything else you could dream up. Competition is in the air.

Then add excellent coaches. Teams coached by Brian Buczek in boys’ soccer and by Becky McGovern in cross-country running have won four straight state championships. Tyler Post, the first-year girls’ soccer coach, is a Stowe High graduate, and emerged from the same atmosphere that led to last weekend’s accomplishments. Janet Godin coached her field-hockey team to second place in Division 3; she carries on a field-hockey tradition started by the legendary Bev Osterberg.

Finally, the kids can play. Every one of these Stowe High teams has not only stars, but also solid, hard-driving youngsters you can count on.

Excellence is something we all want in public schools. We want children to learn about life and its myriad aspects; we want them to work together, to get along, to become socially adept and yet be independent, able to think for themselves.

That was all on display in Stowe’s championship weekend. Student-athletes excelled together, and separately; they demonstrated what they’ve learned about self-discipline, performing under stress, teamwork, sacrifice, commitment, effort, accountability, citizenship, sportsmanship, confidence, leadership and organizational skills, playing within the rules, physical well-being and healthy lifestyles, and striving toward excellence.

Experiences like these prepare students not just to win games, but to succeed.

Congratulations to everyone involved — which, in this town, is just about everybody.

The real brain drain

Education is a key to a solid economic future, and Vermonters are shortchanging themselves. Vermont’s high school graduation rate is among the highest in the nation. About 60 percent of those graduates sign up for further education, but 14 percent drop out after the first year, according to a study by the Vermont Student Assistance Corp. College costs are relatively high in Vermont, many students are trying to pay their own way, and they often have trouble balancing studies with their jobs.

Parents’ expectations are another factor. Nearly 72 percent of students whose parents didn’t go to college, but want their children to go, actually enroll in college. But enrollment drops to 34 percent for graduates who think their parents don’t really care if they go to college.

State forecasters say the job market will demand that 60 percent of Vermont’s workforce have a higher education degree by 2020. Clearly, things must change for that to happen. College needs to be more affordable. Parents need to encourage their children to seek a brighter future. And, when students do enroll in college, more attention must be paid to what’s needed to keep them there.